In the early spring, Hazlet resident Gary Dates got a sweet surprise. One of his photographs was awarded $250 in the Monmouth County Arts Council’s 29th annual Juried Art Show at the Monmouth Museum, located on the Brookdale Community College campus.
“Busted” by Gary Dates That winning image, titled “A Control Issue,” was made by Dates’ combining six photographs in Photoshop.
“I didn’t think I’d get in [the show], much less win,” he said, back in April.
“I guess because my images are unorthodox, they don’t easily fit into the fine art category. I didn’t think it was the kind of thing that would usually be accepted. I’ve been rejected from other shows.”
Now that he has learned that his composite photograph, “Busted,” has won first place in Brookdale Community College’s 22nd annual Juried Art Show, on view through June 23 in the CVA Gallery, he takes a more philosophical view.
“I can’t write this off as a fluke any more. There’s something going on with these images,” he said in a telephone conversation last week.
“I guess the bottom line is, I didn’t create these images to compete, or create them with any kind of agenda. I did them because I was having a blast. I had all this inspiration – they [the Barbie and Ken images] were coming at me faster than I could make them,” he said.
“Most of my life was spent as a professional musician. I noticed that there seems to be a universal law at work here about wanting something and not getting it, versus not really doing it because you want it – you do it because you love to do it – and then things happen.
“Success comes as a byproduct of doing what you love to do.
“The Barbie and Ken thing…I’ve tried to portray them in real-world situations and take away that ‘goody-two-shoes’ image,” he said.
He started using the dolls in his photographs about three years ago.
“I wanted to put them in imperfect situations. I wanted them to be flawed pieces. Like everybody else, we all have that potential. Barbie and Ken have become mythic figures. I’ve been trying to dispel that,” he said.
Brookdale adjunct professor Len Kleckner selected Dates’ photography/digital composite “Busted” from 222 submissions in categories of painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, graphic design, sculpting, ceramics, fiber, jewelry, computer graphics and mixed media.
Dates explained the process involved in creating “Busted,” which actually required multiple images.
“The whole idea behind that image, one of the things I like to do, is to create things that are impossible,” he said.
“It’s not like it’s a big secret. The initial shot I shot on a camera on a tripod, then I had to get the camera out of the mirror, and I had to get me ‘in.’ I dressed down and stood in front of black paper. Luceille [his wife] snapped me.
“Two or three images make the face because I wasn’t happy with the expression on any one of them. So I took the eyes from another image that looked more surprised. I had 15 different shots of me.”
By the way, that is Luceille walking up the steps in the background.
“I had to shoot Barbie. I had to shoot the razor blade. There’s even some objects on the counter that I had shot [that] I had to reshoot and insert … which meant that I had to re-create the reflections in the mirror. It’s just ridiculous.
“I shot the little black-and-white images [on the sides]. A lot of photographs went into doing that. There are vanity lights on the top of the mirror. I had to reshoot some details.
“If you asked me how many photographs went into making this, I don’t know,” he said. “I’d have to sit down and really look at it closely.”
Additional area winners include: second place, Hunter McKee, Monmouth Beach, “Shrewsbury River Bridge”; third place, Mare Akana, Tinton Falls, Basket Sponge (stoneware);
Also, six honorable mentions: Alexandra Como, Howell, “Sacred Memory” (watercolor and pencil); John Salvi, Monmouth Beach, “HarvestingAsteroids” (lithograph); Byren Gilpin, Manasquan, “Aztec Rivers” (wood); James Kent, Oceanport, “Dar-Vee” (acrylic/collage on canvas); Elizabeth Vallis, Rumson, untitled (silver jewelry); Leon Lundervold, Wall, “All Smiles” (photo).
The community is invited to view the exhibit 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday through June 20. For more information, call 732-224-2705.
Editor’s note:
Dates credits the Brookdale Photography
Department staff for his development
as a photographer since he took his first
photography class at the college a few
years ago. He created “Busted” as an assignment
for a class taught by Geanna
Merola.